Elevating means for car doors



Oct. l, 1929. c. LUTE. ETAL ELEVATING MEANS Fon CAR DooRs Filed Feb. 16,.1928

2 Sheets-Sheet *1 CSQ/@L UTE KENNETH 7MB/N @TTS/5.

Oct. l, 1929. c. LUTE ET AL ELEVATING MEANS FOR vGAR DOORS 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 16, 192e .M .ZJ NLM EE. Mm J www nl PatentedOct.' l, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CARL LUTE AND KENNETH J'.TOBIN, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS TO COMPANY, F CHICAGO,ILLINOIS,-y A. CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS cAMEL ELEVATING MEANS ron. CAB.noone Application ledrebruary 16, 1928. Serial No. 254,704.

This invention relates to door elevating meansand concerns itselfprimarily with roller supporting means for the door, whichv vating thedoor above said track, said roller supporting means automaticallycollapsing upon release of said operating means, to allow said door todescend upon said track.

Accordingto this invention, the cardoor is supported upon the rollersonly when it is being moved to open or closed position; at other timesit rests firmly upon some. supporting means and cannot be readily movedthru shunting or sudden starting, consequently, the fixtures upon thedoor or contiguous thereto are relieved from the constant wear andstrain during the traveling movements 2'0 of the car, or when the sameis standing idle.

' The invention comprises the novel structure and combination of partshereinafter described and more particularly pointed out Iand defined inthe appended claims. j In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate apreferred embodiment of this invention and in which similar referencenumerals refer to .diferentfeatures inthe similar views: p

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a freight car,including a door mounted according to this invention, with the door inlowered position.

' Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, showin the door in elevatedosition.

igure 3 is any enlarg sectional view thru* the roller housing, showingthe lroller and to le mechanism in elevatlon. l

igure 4 is an enlarged view taken upon the line 4,-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken upo'n the line'5-5 ofFigure 1, Figure 6 is an enlarged :fragmentaryl elevational view of theshifting lever. p

vFigure 7 is an enlarged, part sectional and art elevational view, takenupon the line g-I of Figure 6. i y

Figure 8 is a sectional view takenv upon the g line 8-8 of Figure 1. i50, Figure 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken which are connected attheir lower ends to` the axle 7 of the roller. The upper ends vofmounted upon an operating rod 10. Above upon the line 9-9-of Figure 4,lookin in thel direction of the arrows, and showing t e door restingup'on the track.

. Figure 10 is a perspective View of a bearing block lfor connecting thetoggle links with the operating rodv therefor. 'y

Referring now to the drawin s, which il lustrate one embodimentofthismvention, it w1ll be observed that there is illustrated a car door track1, which is mounted at the .lower margin of the car doorv opening. Theterm track .is intended to include a supporting means for the door whenthe same is not supported by the rollers. A car door 2, which may be ofany suitable design, normally rests upon the'track 1. For this purpose,the car door is provided with an angled member 3 attached to thelowerpmargin thereof, with the outstanding flange of such angled memberresting upon the track.

A plurality of rolling elements 4l are attaehed to the door by anexpansible andcolllapsible mechanism, generally denoted by the referencecharacter 5. Means are provided for expanding or extending thismechanism for elevating the door above the track, in order that it maybe supported upon the rollers forsliding movement. This means 'is sorelated to the mechanisml that, upon its release, the door automaticallysinks upon the track. 80 While the expansible and collapsible mechanismmayassume different forms, as a matter of illustration, there is shown apair of toggle links 6 on each side of each roller 4 the links 6 areconnected to pintles or 'trunnions 8 (Fig. 10),'extending from lateralsides of bearing blocks 9 which are slidably the operating rod 10-thereis a stud 11 which projects from the door 2and which is supported in thewalls ofa housing 12 which surrounds the roller. This housing consistsof aback plate 12a secured to the door and a 95 front member 12bsecuredto the back plate.

These parts mayT be separately forged, pressed yor cast and assembledupon the door to prolvide a self-retained unit.

C lvyo pairs Qf.l links 13 are pivoted 'at their 100 upper ends upon thestud 11 and the lower ends of the links 13 are pivoted upon the pintlesor trunnions 8 extending from the bearing blocks 9. ^The aforementionedrod 10 extends thru suitable axially aligned openings 14 in the housing12 and the ends of the rod 10 are provided with enlarged abutments 15fora purpose that will later appear. Adjacent the right-hand bearingblock 9 the rod is provided with a collar 16, one end of which forms anabutting shoulder with respect to the adjacent bearing block 9, as willlater more fully appear. l

The rod 10 may be of any desired construction. lnthe present instance,it is shown as made of sections, consisting of terminal solid portions10EL for supporting the bearing blocks 9, and an intermediate hollowportion 10b which telescopes over the solid portions and is connectedthereto. Within the scope of this invention, any equivalent structuremay be used for performing the functions and operations of this rod. l

To guide the roller in a vertical path, the

ends of the roller axle 7 project beyond the hub of the roller andoperate in guideways 17 and 18. formed in theswalls of the housing 12.

lt will be obvious thatr the aforementioned door above the track andsupporting the same,

links 6 and l13 'form an expansible and collapsible connection, in theform of a toggle -mechanism or polygonal linkage, between the rollers 4and the door. The connection of this toggle mechanism with the operatingrod 10 is such that the toggle links may be expanded or extended bypulling or pushing against the sides thereof for elevating the upon therollers; As soon as the operating rodfis released, the slidable featureof the blocks 9 on the operating rod will allow the toggle mechanism tocollapse th`ru thev weight of the descending door, which automaticallysinks upon the track as soonfas'the operating rod 10 is released, aswill later more fully appear. y

In order to maintain the door upon the track against lateral movement,suitable retaining clips 19 may be secured to the door for overlappingthe outer Y margin of the track, as shown in Figure 4, and, to operatethe rod 10 which connects the toggle mech' ture of the toggle mechanismsthat connect each roller 4 with the door, it'will be obvious l that thedoor normally rests directly upon the track 1. When it is desired toelevate the door for sliding movement upon the rollers,

the operator will swing the handle 20 in the direction that he desiresto' shift the door. Assuming it is desired to shift the door to theright, as shown in Figure 2, the operator will swing the leyer 20 to theright, thereby moving the rod 10 to the ri ht. As the rod 10 is thuswisemoved, the en arged abutment 1,5 at the left-hand end of the rod willengage the adjacent sliding block 9 to expand or extend the togglemechanism, while at the other end of the door, the abutment 16 willengage the adjacent slidable bearing block 9 and shift the same 'forexpanding or extending the right-hand toggle mechanism. Obviously, asthe toggle mechanisms are thuswise expanded or extended,` they, willelevatev the door above the track so that said door is supported uponthe rollers for 'sliding movement, and the continued pull on the lever20 will naturally cause the door to travel along the track. f

As soon as the operator releases the lever 20, the weight of the dooracting upon the toggles will immediately cause the same to collapse, dueto the slidable characteristic of the bearing blocks 9 on the operatingrod 10, until the lower edge of said` door again rests uponv thetrack 1. llt is, therefore, obvious that the door is only in elevatedposition above the track and supported upon the rollers when held insuch position by the swinging of t-he lever 20. Consequently, the

door will always be supported directly upon the trackY against anyaccidental shifting movement, except when it is being shifted during itsopening or closing movements.

We are aware that many changes may be made, and numerous details of.construction may be varied through a wide range without departing fromthe principles of this inven tion, and we, therefore, do not proposelimiting the patent anted hereon, otherwise than necessitated y theprior art.

VtTe claim as our invention: v

1. In a structure ofthe character described, a track, a door normallyresting upon said track, a roller, polygonal linka'ge connecting saidroller and door, and means forl extending said linkage forelevating thedoor above said track.

2. The' combinationwith a track, of a door normally resting'upon saidtrack, a pair of rollers, toggle mechanism connecting each roller withsaid door, arod for connecting ,said toggle mechanisms, and' a lever foractuating said rod for simultaneously expanding saidtoggle mechanismsfor elevating thefdoor with respect to said rollers.

3. The combination with atrac'k, of a f' car door normally resting'uponlsaid track,

a pair of rollers, an operating member, a pair of links pivoted at theaxis of each roller and slidably connected to `said operating member, asecond pair of links connected to said first Vmentioned links, a commonpivot support for said second mentioned links, and means for operatingsaid operating member for extending said links.

4. In a structure of the class described, a track, a door normallyresting upon said track, a roller, a supporting axle therefor, a rod,bearing blocks slidably mounted upon said rod, each bearing block havingpintles, a pair of links pivoted at one end to the axle of said rollerand pivotally connected at the other end to said pintles, a second pairof links having a common pivotal connection above said rod and connectedwith said intles, an abutment in the path of one slidable bearing blockand an enlargement on said rod adjacent the other bearing block, wherebysaid links may be expanded or collapsed.

5. In a structure of the class described, a track, a door normallyresting directly upon said track, a pair of sectional housings attachedto said door, a slidable rod extending thru said housings, a roller ineach housing, links pivotally attached to said rollers and slidablyattached to saidl rod, and means for shifting said rod.

6. The combination with a track, of a` door havingan edge normallyresti-ng upon said track, a plurality of rollers,'expansible andcollapsible connections between said door and rollers, and meansincluding a longitudinally extending bar connected to said connectionsfor simultaneously moving said rollers relative to said door.

7. The combination with a track, of a door having an edge normallyresting upon said track, a plurality of rollers, expansible andcollapsible connections between said door and rollers, and horizontallymovable means for expanding said connections for elevating the doorabove said track and moving said door upon said track. v

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names.

CARL LUTE. KENNETH J. TOBIN.

